Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament: Central claims 3rd place with win over Braves

Cape Central coach Drew Church was pleased with the way his team competed on Tuesday night, which was something he couldn't say a day earlier when the Tigers were blown out in a Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament semifinal.

Trailing by one point at the end of the first quarter, second-seeded Cape Central used a 18-2 run to pull away for a 79-53 victory over No. 4 Scott County Central in the third-place game on Tuesday night at the Show Me Center.

"I thought tonight was a good team effort," Central coach Drew Church said. "As bad as we played last night, it was nice to see guys come out, play unselfish, play extremely hard and do some good things."

SCC led 16-13 with 2 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter after Javonta Daniel scored back-to-back layups and added a free throw, but for the second straight day SCC lacked energy and focus against another tough opponent, according to their coach.

"For us, and I've said it all along, it was just about effort," SCC coach Frank Staple said. "In the first quarter we came out with a lot of effort and intensity and in the second quarter they just kind of punched us in the face and we just kind of stopped. We have to play with more effort to compete with teams like that. You may not win, but at least you're fighting hard and that's just something we've got to work on."

Scott County Central coach Frank Staple congratulates Matt Blissett after being awarded the sportsmanship award at the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014 (Glenn Landberg)

The Braves turned the ball over on their first four possessions of the second quarter. Central converted six points off of the SCC miscues and led 37-21 at halftime.

"It was huge to get that lead especially against a team like Scott County," Church said. "They're a team that can go on spurts as well, and I felt like a good time for us was when we spread the floor out and made them come out and guard, and we were able to get to the hole and get some things. I think that kind of helped us turn the tide and make us even more aggressive."

Andre Statam was held scoreless in the first quarter, but came alive in the second with 10 of his game-high 25 points, including two 3s and a slam dunk on a pass from Al Young.

Statam was held to just one point in the first half and sat out for most of the second half in a semifinal loss to the Bulldogs on Monday night. The senior said his mind, "just wasn't in the game" against Notre Dame.

"We had a talk yesterday about why I didn't play and we had a talk again today, just earlier," Statam said. "I just wasn't playing hard enough, but he just told me to fix that and they would get me the ball, so I did. When I got the ball I wasn't going to waste a chance. That's kind of what he told me to do. Whenever I got the ball, if I'm on the post, don't pass it out, just score."

Cape Central's Andre Statam looks to pass around Scott County Central's Javonta Daniel in the fourth quarter of the third-place game Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014 during the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament at the Show Me Center. (Glenn Landberg)

Statam wasn't the only player to have a big night for Central. The Tigers had two other players score in double figures for them in the win.

Al Young scored 19 points and Kway'Chon Chisom added 18.

"I can go down the line. Al played really well, Andre really took it upon himself to play better tonight and we kind of challenged him and he responded. He established the post game and even when he got in foul trouble he kind of took what was given to him. I was proud of the way that he and the rest of our guys played tonight.

Scott County Central 16 5 10 22 -- 53

Cape Central 15 22 22 20 -- 79

SCC (53) -- Javonta Daniel 15, Jeffery Porter 14, Matthew Blissett 9, Tre Moore 7, Drake Kesler 4, Skylar Lemons 2. FG 23, FT 6-11, F 13. (3-pointers: Moore 1. Fouled out: none.)

CENTRAL (79) -- Andre Statam 25, Al Young 19, Kway'Chon Chisom 18, Peyton Montgomery 9, Tevyn Wright-Hunt 2, Chase Hagerty 2, Kaleb Ward 2, Garrett Jackson 2. FG 34, FT 7-8, F 13. (3-pointers: Statam 3, Montgomery 1. Fouled out: none.)